A December 2016 parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee report has suggested that employers should be offered tax incentives for recruiting ex-offenders. Despite this incentive, more than 50 percent of surveyed businesses stated that they would not consider hiring an ex-offender. Reasons include perceived risk to security and prevention of harm, concerns that ex-offenders lack honesty and reliability and the potential damage to the image of the business. Employers can currently obtain information about criminal history by requesting voluntary disclosure by the employee or by carrying out official checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The majority of spent convictions do not need to be disclosed by the individual, even where a request has been made.
Read more
